The B-17 Rum Boogie
I can't be sure about how the Rum Boogie B-17 got its name, but I think it most likely came from the hit song Rhumboogie by the Andrew Sisters, an American singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The song came out in 1940, which fits the timeline of the Rum Boogie crew perfectly. Click the red arrow at right to see the original music video.
The crew listed on the home page, crew #0-23, were in the 96th bomber group, 337th squadron from May to October 1943. Their unit was deployed from AAB at Walker, Kansas to Grafton, England (Snetterton). They departed the United States from Presque Isle, ME on April 7, 1943. The rest of the unit's support personnel who did not fly were transported by rail and ship and arrived in England by the end of April. The RBC completed 25 missions using some of the planes listed below:
Rum Boogie, plane #41-9088
(crashed on take-off at Walla Walla, WA;
salvaged 1/4/43)
Rum Boogie, plane #42-29735
(assigned to the 337th squadron on April 18, 1943
and later transferred to 381st BG on July 16, 1943)
Rum Boogie II, plane #42-29962
(assigned to the 337th squadron on May 13, 1943
and later transferred to 390th BG on October 16, 1943)
Rum Boogie III, plane #42-29975
(transferred to 92nd BG on July 23, 1943;
labeled war weary/transferred to Wharton Air Depot June 7, 1944)
Rum Boogie III, plane #42-30365
(crashed into the North Sea on 10/17/43 and was never seen again after crew #0-23 had left England)
Rum Boogie IV, no plane # known (picture below)
It should be noted that the 96th Bomb Group, which the Rum Boogie crew was a part of, took the heaviest casualties of any bomb group during World War II.
Recently, an original B17 that had been restored visited Nampa, Idaho. I have added some video I took of the plane taking off and landing. It was an incredible experience to see this plane.